Caterpillar will move its global headquarters from Peoria to north suburban Deerfield, choosing not to follow the path of other large companies that have relocated to Chicago.

It’s a decision steeped in irony: The equipment-maker’s future Deerfield home was only available because of another company’s decision to move to Chicago.

Caterpillar will take over the former headquarters of premium spirits maker Beam Suntory, which announced plans last year to move its 450 employees and global headquarters to Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, joining corporations including McDonald’s, Motorola Solutions, Kraft Heinz, Wilson Sporting Goods and Conagra Brands that have recently moved or made plans to relocate downtown. Beam Suntory’s move will be completed by the end of June. […]

Most of Caterpillar’s 12,000 Peoria-area employees will not relocate. About 100 will move to the new Deerfield headquarters this year. By mid-2018, Caterpillar expects to have about 300 employees in Deerfield in corporate roles, including executives and other corporate employees in finance, accounting and communications, said spokeswoman Corrie Scott.

Incentives, while they were discussed, did not drive Caterpillar’s decision, said spokeswoman Corrie Scott. The Deerfield site will give employees who are relocating from Peoria as well as future recruits more housing and educational options, while still offering convenient access to the city via commuter rail, she said.

“To our minds, this is kind of the best of both worlds,” she said.

The national media has overstated the trend of corporations moving downtown to chase millennial workers, said John “Jack” Boyd, founder and principal of a namesake site selection firm in Princeton, N.J. Many of those workers are postponing a move to the suburbs, rather than rejecting it. Moreover, as more companies do move downtown, “at some point there’s inflationary cost pressures” that make the market less attractive.

“Suburbs in selected markets are doing very well, thank you, including Deerfield,” he said.

Of the millenials I know who lived in the city, a good 80-90% moved out to the suburbs as soon as their children were of school age. Other than the supposed “young professional” angle, a Loop office theoretically helps attract workers from every area of the city and suburbs due to the more flexible transportation options, while a suburban location makes a 15-20 minute commute possible if you can afford to live near where you work.

A wee bit touchy about insentives. What were they?
How much in EDGE? 50-100 million?
I don’t think they should be given anything for 300 currently existing employees to move into an already existing and business ready building.

Maybe DCEO would be kind enough to reveal how much money is being siphoned off from going into our state coffers

Deerfield v. Peoria, fairly obvious why the global execs choose to move, and I am not trying to cast shade on Peoria. We often shop there as it is only 30 minutes from home. Peoria and the surrounding area are just limited in what they can offer the execs.

Deerfield to O’Hare is about 45 minutes or more. Big CAT jets can use Palwaukee. Not much outbound METRA service in a.m. So the new hires will need to find a bunkhouse nearby. Housing mostly overpriced and over taxed.

As other have said, Walgreens has a big campus nearby as does Discover, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and also Wolters Kluwer (formerly CCH). This is a great location for business’employees: access to public transportation, airports and highways/surface roads, varied housing options and great schools. Less than an hour to downtown for sports, concerts, theater and fine dining restaurants. Well done, CAT!

“Deerfield to O’Hare is about 45 minutes or more. Big CAT jets can use Palwaukee. Not much outbound METRA service in a.m. So the new hires will need to find a bunkhouse nearby. Housing mostly overpriced and over taxed.”
It’s not just the CAT staff jetisoning to locales far away. It’s the clients coming in to see CAT. Most fly commerical. Multiple airlines non-stop to O’Hare. And the activity scene to entertain clients is not debatable. Congrats to Deerfield.